ISO-WD21150 Magnesium vs. C18900 Copper
ISO-WD21150 magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while C18900 copper belongs to the copper alloys. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ISO-WD21150 magnesium and the bottom bar is C18900 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 45 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 5.7 to 11 | |
| 14 to 48 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 17 | |
| 43 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 150 to 170 | |
| 190 to 300 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 240 to 290 | |
| 260 to 500 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 120 to 200 | |
| 67 to 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 110 | |
| 200 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1080 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 550 | |
| 1020 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 990 | |
| 390 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 100 | |
| 130 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 19 | |
| 30 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 100 | |
| 30 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 31 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 8.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 42 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 980 | |
| 310 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 15 to 24 | |
| 65 to 95 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 160 to 460 | |
| 20 to 660 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 7.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 70 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 40 to 48 | |
| 8.2 to 16 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 52 to 58 | |
| 10 to 16 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 60 | |
| 38 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 15 to 17 | |
| 9.3 to 18 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 2.4 to 3.6 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 97.7 to 99.15 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.0050 | |
| 0 |
| Lead (Pb), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 94 to 97 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 0.1 to 0.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.0050 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0.5 to 1.5 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |